Recipe: Adventure Bread with Steel-Cut Oats

Josey Baker’s Adventure Bread is wonderfully hearty stuff… dense and flavorful with the nutrition and energy you need for a long hike, or maybe a march for a worthy cause. I’ve modified the original recipe to use steel cut oats with the option of swapping out hemp hearts for flaxseed (which I personally dislike). Makes one loaf that you’ll cut into two 8 inch by 2 inch bricks. (Note that you’ll need to buy an 8 inch by 4 inch non-stick bread pan if you don’t already have one.)

Method: bring water to boil and pour over oats in a heatproof bowl; soak overnight. Toast the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes (don’t let them burn). Add seeds and all other dry ingredients to oats and mix thoroughly. Add maple syrup and olive oil and mix again; taste for salt and add a bit more if needed. Transfer to an 8 inch by 4 inch bread pan which has been rubbed with oil or butter. Bake 1 hour or longer in a 400 degree oven or until bread pulls away from sides of pan. (Longer baking, up to 1 1/2 hours, doesn’t seem to hurt.) Turn out on a rack and cool at least two hours before slicing, then cut lengthwise into two loaves with a sharp serrated knife. Enjoy as-is or toasted with butter, nut butter or cheese.

*Psyllium, pronounced “silly-um”, sounds like something out of an Uncle Scrooge comic but it’s essential to bind the ingredients since there is no gluten. To add to the merriment, psyllium is usually marketed as a colon health product though you may be able to find it in the bulk baking goods section.